We demand software freedom now

When computing began, software was freely shared amongst users. People
were glad to create programs that others found useful and encouraged
others to modify that software and share it freely. Now, most people
consider software to be something that must not be shared and can only
be modified by the original developer. This paradigm shift has caused
great harm to a technology that thrives on community involvement and
innovation.

Proprietary software takes away control from the users and puts it in the hands of the developers, creating a dangerous situation where the developers are able to exert control over the users, often in an unethical manner. For instance, the Amazon Kindle contains a "backdoor" which allows Amazon to remotely delete books from a Kindle. This backdoor was unknown until it was first used in 2009 to delete copies of George Orwell's 1984 without asking for consent.

The Kindle is not the only case of proprietary software invading privacy. Programs such as RealPlayer and Microsoft Windows include similar features that should be of concern to all users. We must not accept software that invades our privacy. We must demand software freedom now!

The damage done by proprietary software is not irreversible. Now, with
free software, we can take back control of our computing. There are
now thousands of free software applications available, many of which
may be familiar to people, such as Mozilla Firefox and
OpenOffice.org. These individual projects each contribute to the free
software community and are integral parts of modern free operating
systems, such as GNU/Linux.